Sunday, October 23, 2011

We Have Cabinets!

We finally have all of the cabinets in with doors on them.
Oh except for the one over the fridge. We have to cut that one shorter so we can put new floor in underneath the fridge.
This week's task is to get the countertop ordered.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Pretty cabinets all in a row.

For the new kitchen, I wanted a lot of space between the counter and the wall cabinet, so I chose the Akurum horizontal model. My plan was to have a shelf underneath the cabinet for my pretty dishes. I've always liked open shelves and have been accumulating nicer dishes for this reason.
In order to accommodate my storage needs and fit the space, I mixed 3 of these horizontal cabinets with the microwave cabinet and the tall pantry. You are given a handy long strip of wall bracket for your cabinets to hang from. However, for some unknown reason different cabinets have the holes at different heights. The 3 vertical ones all went up together nicely, but we had to cut the bracket and lower it for the microwave cabinet. Same for the pantry. The bracket is easy to cut, but some care had to be used since you want to screw the it into a stud.
Also you can see we had to cut the cabinet to accommodate the stove vent. (These vents will prove to be pesky as you will see with the sink install.) The cabinet was easy to cut, so not much of a problem there. The stove ended up moving over a few inches, so we went with flexy pipe instead of moving the vent over as well.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Domsjo- uh oh.


We decided to go with the Domsjo farmhouse sink. This sink fits with the Akurum sink base, but you won't use the cross bars that come with the cabinet assembly. Since the Domsjo sink is so deep, it comes with metal cross bars that are installed lower than the wooden ones.
We didn't realize this when we assembled our cabinets first. The husband had attached this cabinet to one next to it and the wall before opening up the sink. We had to cut the wooden cross pieces out in order to install the metal ones.
The next issue was the space for the pipes. Since this sink sits lower, you only have 23"of height for the pipes. The old vent went into the wall too high for the new sink and we thought we might have to put all of that black pipe into the wall. Luckily the home store had a vent termination piece that fit.
So the lesson we have been learning is,"yes it saved a lot of time to assemble all of the cabinets first." However, it would have been very helpful to open the accessory pieces for each cabinet as well.
I do love this sink and am glad we went with this one instead of another stainless steel sink. This is the smaller size, but it still has a huge bowl. So I have more sink volume now than I had with the old double sink.


Friday, October 07, 2011

Kitchen demo

The first weekend, the upper cabinets were down and off to Habitat for Humanity.
The lesson here-don't give only half of your cabinets to charity. They weren't too pleased with the idea of waiting for the base cabinets. HfH wants all of the cabinets at the same time.
We just weren't able to pull out everything or get it all over to them at once.

The next weekend, I got the paint mostly done. This is the second color. The first was a grey that made me very unhappy so I went with my backup color; light blue. Much easier to paint the room without the cabinets.

We got 2 new cabinets up on the wall. We are living out of that red tub until we can get the pantry in. It's not completely primitive though. That's mac n cheese on the stovetop.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Space Age Kitchen 2

I think we've picked out our floor and back splash tile.
Now we're leaning more towards a stainless steel countertop.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Space Age Kitchen

So now that the cabinets have been chosen, I'm trying to pick out
backsplash tile, countertop, and flooring.
This is a shiny, silver tile that I think looks cool.

Recycled glass and concrete countertop.

Cork floor; Pyrite color.
I like the floor and the countertop, but not sure if I like them with the silver tile.


I really like this skinny tile, but not sure how 'spac-y' it looks.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Bedroom Before & After

When we first looked at Tilly Ranch, I was adamant about getting the grooming out of the house as soon as possible.
The large, spacious master bedroom had vinyl flooring with a lovely built in, raised tub.
Not quite the amenities I was looking for.

Now this is my favorite room, soon to be eclipsed by the kitchen I hope.

I think the headboard needs a picture in the middle, and more pillows!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Kitchen Remodel

After 3 1/2 years, we are finally getting to the kitchen remodel. It was always on the back burner till I heard that IKEA was coming here. Once I knew that, I started working with their online kitchen planner. Very easy to use by the way. We went through many iterations until settling on the final design.
Well it just got delivered today. At least a lot of flat boxes got delivered today. We'll slowly put cabinets together while looking for flooring, countertop and backsplash tile.
My goal is to have a new kitchen in time for Thanksgiving.



Saturday, May 21, 2011

Creative Repair


So the last Creative Repair was applique. This one is stenciling. Aside from worn spots in clothing, I also find mysterious stains on them. I mean really, I don't remember spilling that much. You'd think no one would let me out in public if I was such a sloppy eater.

So for those weird mystery stains, I turn to stencils. These are a great and creative way to hide the fact that you are messy. Who's to say you didn't buy your pants that way huh?

Any stencil will work. I found a great book called Stencil 101 by Ed Roth. Tulip fabric paint has worked for me with great success. Just follow the directions on the bottle. Using a spray adhesive on the stencil keeps the paint from bleeding underneath and don't forget to heat set it with an iron after the paint is dry. No problems in the wash.



The nice thing is you can add more stencils as more stains appear. I think I'll try different colors till I achieve that graffiti look.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Creative Repair



I have the hardest time finding pants that fit. If they fit in the hip, then I'm left with a big gap at the waist in the back that I could fit a walkie talkie in.
It seems that pants nowadays are straight from the waist down like guys' pants. It's like women don't have butts anymore. Who are these flat butted, no hip having women?

So when I do find a pair that fit, I wear them till they wear out. And where do my pants always wear out? Why on the inseam. Thighs. It's because of my thighs. (I tried to come up with some clever joke about friction and starting a fire, but they all sounded dirty)

Hence my new found talent,creative repair. Rather than throwing out a perfectly fitting pair of pants, I patch the holes. Now I could, and have, patch with the same color fabric, but why not take this opportunity to be a bit creative?

So with this pair, I decided to patch down both inseams with a floral print. (It is Spring you know) The result is something different looking that solves the threadbare problem.

To do this repair job, I cut 2 panels from a floral fabric and iron Heat N Bond on the back. Then I iron my patches to the pants. Next, I ripped open the outside seams so I could sew around the patches. I know some people will roll up the leg to fit it on their machine, but I find it's easier just to rip open the pant leg and then sew it back up afterwards. Especially with long patches like I'm using, but I do this with patches on the knees as well.

I will use a large busy print for repairs in case (oh who am I kidding? When.) this fabric gets a worn spot. I cut a large piece, in this case a big blossom, and sew it over the existing patch. This technique will also work for covering stains. That's right folks, pure class over here!

For more info check out Craft: they have a series of posts on mending and repair.
enjoy.

Monday, May 09, 2011

What the Pho?


Birthday dinner tonight and I made my first pho.
I saw this demo on Martha Stewart Living and seeing how simple it seemed, I decided to give it a try.
The recipe is from Laurie David's new cookbook The Family Dinner
and is on Martha Stewart's site .


I like that you serve the broth in a teapot.
This was a great excuse to use the pot from my grandmother's tea set.


It was a fun, hands on dining experience since you add your ingredients to your bowl at the table.
All in all a yummy, easy dinner.

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Nu Shoes

To my delight, I learned we have a Steve Madden here in Denver.
So of course I ran out and spent a ridiculous amount of money on some super high wedges. I got brown since I already have some Steve Madden knock off wedges from Target in black. Brown shoes (especially studded) always evoke more of a western vibe to me so they usually go with jeans. I also tried them with my plaid drop waist dress and a little denim swing jacket.


It seems that my dresses are all about 2 inches shorter than I would like.
Not sure how that happened.
I'll add "making a slip" to the growing list of things I want to accomplish while the baby is with grandma.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

I'm back at the library more so I can break out the pretty clothes more often.
Nothing groundbreaking here, a t shirt and jeans.
This shirt has all the detail in the back, so I wear it with my hair in tails.
My 1969 jeans and island hut shoes topped off with a flower for a springtimey look.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011


I bought this dress and cardigan at Target and am in love with them.
I wear them over pants for a more relaxed look, and with boots when it's a bit warmer.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

same look. two color ways.

Monday, April 11, 2011


Socks with open toe shoes. Always been a favorite look of mine.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

My interpretation of Rodarte Spring 2011.
This is an infinity skirt I made years ago with some fabric that I couldn't bear to cut into.

Rodarte Spring 2011
Here's that western shirt again. I think I want to take it in at the sides so it doesn't feel so loose.

Tuesday, April 05, 2011


I don't know why I never thought of these pants with this dress. I'm certainly no stranger to pattern mixing. I'm liking this one so it will be added to the rotation.

Monday, April 04, 2011


A little chilly again today so more layers. We made a trip to the ARC today to drop off donations and sadly the Erte tank top didn't make the cut. I've held on to it for years and it just wasn't inspiring me. Maybe someone else will have more luck.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

This cardigan polka dot combo was a favorite of mine when I was at the library.
I found the shirt at a Goodwill and took it in. All of these pieces are years old. When i find something that fits, I wear it out.


These are the most expensive shoes I've ever owned. They're from Anthropologie and I love the carved wooden soles. They remind me of Carmen Miranda.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Living in Colorado means layers since the weather can change by 30 degrees in one day.
You also need to carry a messenger bag to hold your layers as you peel them off.

Rodarte Spring 2011

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Now this look I like. I got this sundress a couple of years ago and never wear it without a shirt underneath. Too much cleavage. I also like it belted ala Michael Kors. I tried bagging the dress above the belt, but it added more bulk than I needed. I have plenty of bulk on my own thankyouverymuch.

Michael Kors Spring 2011

Marc Jacobs Spring 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011

This one is sort of 'meh'.
I like the tank top because the pattern is Erte-like, but I'm still not sold on how it fits.
I also look really hippy in this pic. Hopefully that's just my funhouse mirror.
Let's just go with that.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

I love dresses over pants. I know a lot of folks don't but I do and I'm glad that they are back in style. (Not that that's ever stopped me before)

Chanel Spring 2011

Wednesday, March 23, 2011


I know I wasn't supposed to buy anything more, but I needed a white t shirt. That is a closet staple and I didn't have one. I love this sequin tank top but it needs layering. I'm also loving my Steve Madden knock off wedges from Target. I think this whole outfit, save the tank, is from Target.

I've also been Shrinky Dinking like mad lately, and cannot stop making chandelier earrings. I am teaching a dink class at the library next month so I will probably be burnt out by then.